Farm House Cafe can seat up to 220 people at once, which means under limited reopening rules that started Monday, it was allowed to have approximately 110 people at a time in its dining room.
But the Omaha restaurant, which was open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. had 50 customers — total.
"It was slow, but it was decent," said Dan Bosselman, who owns the restaurant on 84th Street, a few blocks north of Interstate 80.
Bosselman said he didn't have any expectations about how busy it would be Monday, "because I didn't know what to expect."
"I'm grateful for what I got," he said. "I haven't had anything for two months."
Gabe Draper, general manager of the Twisted Fork in the Old Market in Omaha's downtown area, said the restaurant had had only a "handful" of customers as of about 4 p.m. Monday.
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"I thought we'd be busier than we are," he said. "Frankly, it's slower than when it was just takeout."
In Douglas County and 58 other counties across the state, restaurants were allowed to partially reopen their dining rooms Monday, and a number of other businesses that had been ordered closed, including salons, massage parlors and tattoo parlors, were allowed to reopen with restrictions.
The limited reopenings came after Gov. Pete Ricketts allowed state and county directed health measures that had been in effect for several weeks to expire in 10 different health districts across the state.
Restaurants, which had been limited to only drive-thru and carry-out orders for more than a month, could open their dining rooms starting Monday, provided staff wore masks, parties stayed 6 feet apart and crowds did not exceed 50% of normal seating capacity.
That didn't appear to be a problem for most places.
As of Monday afternoon, only about a dozen people had found their way to the Local Beer and Patio Kitchen at 4909 S. 135th St. in Millard, said Charlie Yin, one of the owners.
"I think people are still just a little wary of heading out to dining rooms right now," said Yin, who noted that Mondays are historically a slow day for the restaurant.
Local Beer and Patio Kitchen also has a location in Lincoln near 56th Street and Pine Lake Road, and Yin said plans are to open the dining room there next Monday, when the directed health measure for Lincoln is scheduled to be relaxed in a similar fashion.
Even with the relaxed restrictions, a number of restaurants in Omaha chose not to reopen Monday, including several that have Lincoln owners.
Runza Restaurants, which is based in Lincoln but has locations all over the state, chose not to reopen its dining rooms in Omaha or anywhere else where the directed health measures were relaxed.
"We are taking a slower approach to reopening our dining rooms and are targeting a date later this month," Becky Perrett, Runza's marketing director, said in an email.
She didn't give a specific date, but said it would be later than next week, meaning Runza won't open its dining rooms in Lincoln right away either.
Amigos/Kings Classic, another Lincoln-based chain, also did not open dining rooms in Omaha or anywhere else where it was allowed Monday. A company spokeswoman said the company is evaluating the situation week by week.
Lazlo's didn't open its Omaha location, either. Officials declined to comment about the decision.
Other restaurants were very transparent about why they chose not to open.
Sweet Magnolias Bake Shop near 40th and Cuming streets said on its Facebook page that it will stick with online ordering and curbside pickup for the time being.
"We miss chatting and laughing with you all very much and eagerly await the day we can safely open our door to you again, but this is not that time," the post said. "For now, we will smile from afar when we see you curbside."
Marks Bistro at 49th Street and Underwood Avenue also plans to remain closed.
"Despite the current calls to relax restrictions and reopen the economy, we at Marks still feel that it would not yet be safe to bring back our staff and invite our families and customers to return," the restaurant said in a Facebook post.
"We are currently monitoring the Douglas County COVID-19 statistics, and watching for indications that the peak of new infections has passed," the post said. "Unfortunately, the number of new cases continues to rise weekly; and so, even though it is not in our financial interest to wait, waiting is what we feel we must do."
Other businesses also chose not to reopen Monday. Trios Salon near 148th Street and West Maple Road, said on its website that it will reopen May 12. Urbane Salon and Day Spa in downtown Omaha said on its Facebook page that it would start booking appointments Monday but wouldn't reopen until May 11.
Yin of Local Beer and Patio Kitchen said most businesses are just trying to navigate their way through a new normal.
"Realistically, this is new territory for everyone," he said.